YOU
CAN HELP HAND IN HAND ADVOCATE FOR WAITING CHILDREN!
Social
media, twitter, blogs, email, websites, and other internet channels
are excellent methods of communicating important information to
people across the globe quickly. Hand In Hand is requesting YOUR
help! Will you please be a part of our team by advocating for
waiting children?
We
are asking everyone to feature Hand In Hand on their many media
outlets…Facebook, twitter, family blogs, emails to friends and
family, etc… It’s super simple! You can just cut and paste the
statement below (or write your own!) and email it to friends and
family, put it as your Facebook status, or as a blog entry. Please
take 3 minutes and share this now!! So many children are waiting!
We
would love a link to your Facebook or blog or a copy of your email
when you respond to this call to action so we can watch the power of
our Hand In Hand village impact the lives of waiting children!!
Email us the link or copy us on your email at coloradohih@msn.com.
THANK
YOU FOR JOINING HAND IN HAND IN OUR ENDEAVOUR TO FIND A FAMILY FOR
EVERY CHILD!
Here
is a sample statement to share:
As
you know, adoption is important to our family. At this moment there
are thousands of children around the world waiting for a family of
their own. Hand In Hand International Adoptions is looking for
people who would like to provide a family to these many waiting
children. Please visit:
http://www.handinhandinternationaladoptions.org/
to learn more!
CHILDREN
WHO WAIT
The
China Special Focus program and the Philippines Special Home Find
program are each country’s effort to find good families for
children who can thrive if only given the opportunity. You can find
information about each program from any Hand In Hand office or
at Hand
In Hand Facebook Page
and our blog www.kidswait.org .
Please see listings of
currently waiting children on Facebook, our blog or website… or
email us at hihiadopt@frontier.com
and we will send you the most current listings.
WE
CAN DO YOUR HOME STUDY
Are
you using another agency for your adoption but wondering how you will
be able to get your home study, pre-adoption education, and post
adoption services completed in a way that is compliant with the Hague
Convention or the Universal Accreditation Act?
If
you live in a state where we have an office (Colorado, Florida,
Indiana or Minnesota) we can help! Since we are licensed in each
state where we have an office and we are Hague-accredited, we are
most likely able to provide home studies, adoption training, and post
placement services that will meet the requirements of the placing
agency and whichever foreign country you are adopting from. Contact
any of our offices for more details.
COUNTRY
UPDATES
Bulgaria
– Our Bulgaria program is open and we are eager to receive new
applications. Please contact your local Hand In Hand office or
Karin Link in the Minnesota Office.
Children
are of a rich, ethnic background: Bulgarian, Turkish and Roma.
Children ages 1-15 years old, with the majority being over three
years old; there is a great need for families open to children
between four and eight years old, as well as for families open to
children with special needs. Male and female children and sibling
groups are available. Most children have mild to moderate medical
conditions; the wait for the referral of a healthy child is currently
very long.
Brazil
– We are awaiting accreditation in Brazil and hope to get good news
in January.
To learn more about this program, contact
Camilla Turquia
Gomes, Director of
Development, Brazil Program Director.
My email address is camillaturquia@hihiadopt.org.
I appreciate your interest in adopting from my beloved country, and I
look forward to starting this journey with you!
China
– The China Center of Adoption Affairs has most recently matched
families with log-in dates of December 14, 2006. If your dossier is
logged in for a regular match and you are getting discouraged with
the wait, please know that you can consider the match of a special
needs child without removing your dossier from your “place in line”
at CCAA. If you know you want to do this, please contact us at
hihiadopt@frontier.com
and submit an updated Type of Child form so that our staff in China
can know which child may be a possibility for you.
China/Special
Needs – We can
assist families with adoption of children with special needs from
China in three ways, including being matched from the Shared List,
being matched to a child who has been designated “Special Focus”
because he or she has waited over a month to be matched, or by
adopting a child from a province where Hand In Hand has a direct
relationship to help match waiting children.
China
and Single Applicants
– Single females may adopt a child through China’s Special Focus
program. The specific requirements the applicant has to meet can be
found on the US State Department website at:
China
– Two children - It
is possible for a married couple to adopt two children from China at
once or successively in the same year, if at least one of them is a
Special Focus child.
Haiti
–After working in Haiti since 1990, Hand In Hand is committed to
continuing our work in Haiti with the utmost integrity, and we look
forward to future opportunities in this country. IBESR (Haiti's
adoption authority) has placed a priority on the receipt of new
applications for adoption from Haitian-American families. They
have asked Hand In Hand to focus on such applications at this time.
Applications to Hand In Hand from families without Haitian heritage
are therefore on hold at this time. Meanwhile, families with
Haitian heritage who are interested in adopting from Haiti are
encouraged to contact Karin at minnesota@hihiadopt.org
to learn more about the process and requirements.
Philippines
– Applicants for Philippine adoption should have at least a high
school diploma, a minimum annual income of $40,000 and no more than
two divorces. Only a very few applications can be submitted each year
for young, healthy children. However, there is a great need for
applicants open to children with special needs, children over age 6,
and large sibling groups.
Philippines
Single Parent Adoption
– Single applicants for adoption from the Philippines must be open
to the adoption of children 9 years old or older. The parent must be
at least 16 years older than the child but not more than 45 years
older than the child.
Philippines
Special Home Find -
There are many Filipino children who are older than six or who have
special needs or who are a part of a sibling group who need families.
They are listed on a Special Home Find list and families can review
the list and apply to adopt a child they think could fit well into
their family. Contact the Indiana office to have the list emailed to
you or look for it on our website or blog.
Philippines
Summer Hosting Program
– If you are considering the adoption of a child between 7 and 15
years old, then the hosting program might interest you. Many
children in Philippine orphanages will never be considered for
adoption, simply because of their age. One way that the Philippine
government has found to be effective to find these children families
is to allow them to make a one month visit to the US to stay with
potential adoptive families. The families can spend time getting to
know the children whom they host, and then later decide if adoption
of the host child seems right for them. Even if the children do not
end up being adopted, the hope is that they will at least have had a
respite from orphanage life for a while and had a chance to visit
America. Thus far though, we have a 98% success rate for adoption of
children who have participated in our hosting programs! Contact
Indiana@hihadopt.org for
more information or to be put on the list for our next host program.
